Bourdainian Philosophy: the wisdom of No Reservations in Parts Unknown

A straightforward way of life as seen through the bottom of Anthony Bourdain’s empty beer glass.

Erik Blair
8 min readOct 23, 2019

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It’s Tony’s favorite cocktail, The Negroni. Photo by Erik Blair.

For me, watching every episode of “Parts Unknown” and “No Reservations” made me wish I would one day run into Anthony Bourdain somewhere in the world — in a rundown local bar in a shithole country of course.

For those living under a big rock beyond the reach of YouTube, NetFlix or Hulu, Anthony Bourdain was always a chef, but also an author, and most know him as a travel documentarian. Despite being seen as one of the many Hollywood insiders, he wasn’t rich and didn’t make a big deal about money. He was just a regular guy with a busy travel schedule. He was loved by many around the world for his unpretentious, raw nature, and the way he wove words into wisdom that touched your soul. Some of them, well most of them, involved humility and a lot of colorful cuss words. All of it was drizzled with wisdom like a good curry-soaked Chettinad Chicken.

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